Portable folding stool or seat



Nov; 11', 1952 c. D. KEELY PORTABLE FOLDING STOOL OR SEAT 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 Filed March 17, 1945 INVENTOR Cz/rrolepi 0. K542 Y.

BY lam/1, 1 M

ATTORNEYS Nov. IT; 1952 KEELY PORTABLE FOLDING STOOL OR SEAT 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed March 17, 1945 INVENTOR /F/-T0/ =0 D K7554 x ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 11, 1952 um'rso STATE PATENT OFFICE 2,617,474 1 Bon'rABLE --FQLDING s'rooL OR-SEAT finisher-heir. ig emd N- J- Ap l ed??? Mar h" 194% serial l -58 8 I i (01. 155-149) 3-;Qle in 1 My present invention relates. .to. improvements in portable folding'sto'ols or seats. The'object of my invention is a folding. stool characterizediby lightness, compactness and'ease ofs'ettingup and knocking down, as well as ease and cheapness of manufacture.

My invention consists in. the improved arrangement of parts below described and .more specifically pointed .out .inlthe. appended claims. My invention will be best understood by reference to the following .detaileddes'cription taken with the annexed drawings, inwhich Fig. 1 is a view in isometric perspective of .an illustrative embodiment of my improved stool ready for use.

Fig. 2. is a rearview in elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a view of same in folded position showing parts in partlyjextended form;

Fig. 4 is a detail showing, a corner of -my .device when in folded positionlooking down upon the seat;

Fig. 5 is a view ofthefoldeddevice. as seen from the right of-Fig. 3;

Fig. v6 is an enlarged detail showinga .preferred universal .hingei employed. byme;

Fig. 7 is a view invertical elevation in vsetup position of a modification;

Fig. 8 is a view of samein partially. knocked down position;

Fig. 9.'is a view seensidewise of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is an edgewise view as seen from the bottom of Fig. -8 renewin the .next folding operation;

Fig. 11 is a section taken online l lll of Fig. 8 and shows the movement. undergone by the seat in going from folded to set-up position.

Referring now to the drawings by characters of reference, more particularly'to Figs. lto 6, I denotes generally the seat proper of the device which may comprise a fiat supporting member2 of plywood or other material and a cushion 3 secured thereto. frheisupportierth seat consists of a fiat, generally rectangular (when occupying a single'plane) member dnotedby 5 which'is foldabl'ealong a vftical'aiii's'and in'thelembodiment now described. falong horizontal axes b-b and 'c c'. aliases-up position of Fig. 1, the folds or panels A and B thus form two sides of a triangular prism, the dihedral angle being desirably in the neighborhood of 90". When the support 5 is folded along the axis H to a dihedral angle of 180 (as in Fig. 8 describing a similar embodiment) it is thus foldable along the axes (3-D and c-c as clearly seen in Fig. 3; it being noted that hinges 6, 6 along b-b, Fig. 2, work 2 oppositely from -.hinges "I, .1 -along axis cc; Whereas hinges. 8,.9 and I0 allwork the same way. Desirably the seat I' isatt'ached to the supporti in the knocked down as well as in the set up position. vTo accomplish this the seat lisjoined-to the support by a securing device l2, F igs. 3 and-5, which (1) allows the folding of the member 5 along the vertical axis a--a, while inaddition permittin the seat to be folded against the member 5 when folded along the axis-b-b', asshown in Figs. 3,4 a'ndfi; and (2 allows theseat to-have a movement of translation,- i. e., to slide with'reof Fig. '7 to-be described."

I preferably accomplish-these movements'by constructing the attaching devicel2 'o'fa rod [4 which conveniently is an extension of the pin of hinge '8, said rod terminating in a portion bent at right angl s and navinganead |5,- Figs. 5 and 6. The rod "l4 secures the support 5 to the seat I by'being engaged by a member "H, best shown in Fig. 6, secured to the'portion '2 of the seat'l as 'by screws l8 engaging eyesl9 formed in said member 11, the latter making a loop 20Iaround the rod 14. Howeve'r,other hinges 'of universal type may be employed and if desired the seat may be separable from the support. When the seat is in set up position, as shown in Fig. 1, the sides of the -memb'ei-{S are' further secured to the seat I by meansof clips 2222 fastened to the member 2' of the seat 'I, such clips engaging prongs;23 atta'ched'to support 5. x

As seen from the drawings, desirably the axes bb and 'c-c divide" the member 5 into segmerits "or panels ofequal width; which'width is substantially'that of the'seat I, 'all'as clearly shown in Figs. '2 and 3. Also thelength of the 'seat'is substantially equal to the length ofthe panel formed by the axis b, b and when the dihedral angle'is' 'alsojtheiaxes bib and cQc divide the member 5 in substantially equal parts. If d s r n espec all Wh re i her-s o required, the member 5 maybe foldablealongadditional parallel horizontal axes, which folds are hinged so as to move in accordion fashion as in Fig. 3.

In the embodiment of Figs. 7 to 11 the seat I, instead of being folded outside the support 5 as in the preceding embodiment, may be disposed within the folds of the support. In this case the support 5' is foldable along a single horizontal axis dd, the seat I being shown without the 3 cushion of Fig. 1 (although this may be provided if desired), the hinges 1''l' of the axis d--d permitting the support 5 to enclose the seat I as shown in Fig. 10, and to accomplish this said hinges '|'l have the leaves thereof bent at an angle as shown in Figs. 7 and 9, thereby offsetting the axis of said hinge the necessary amount to accommodate the thickness of the seat i.

Fig. llpshows how the seat i may be slid with respect to the support 5 along'theneck or rod Id of the hinge rod [2, therebyto assume the position shown in Fig. 8 entirely within the fold of the member 5; it also shows how in setting up the stool the seat is moved to the dotted line position where it is above the top of the member 5. The folds of support 5', when the deviceis knocked down, may be secured together by means of spring clip 25, Fig. 10, or other means not shown.

In order for the member I! and the heads of screws [8 to clear the top edge of the supportiii,

.the said edge ,is.recessed fat 25,.26,.Figs."5, 6 and 1 (28f, Fig. 8)., :Ifdesired thepanelsiA and B -may be 1locked1in-theset1up position by means of a hook 21 attached to panel A .and releasably engaging panel-B, although ordinarily'this hook or similar locking device is not needed, reliance being had upon the securing action of fclips 2'2 andprongs 23.

' Fromthe foregoingitris believed that the operation of setting up and knocking down my improved stoolwillbe readily apparent. Thus,'in knocking it down the panels Aand Ed the support 5131? released from the clips 22 by spreading the ;same, and the bending continued along axis aa until the dihedralhiangle of 180 is reached, whereupon bending will bespermitted alongaxes cc and d d andthe seat folded against-the folded-support;5,;all as shown in Figs.

3 and 5 forthe firstdescribed embodiment,and

angle, the prongs 23, may -interfere slightlywvith the, folding downof the seat I. When theseat corners are rounded as in Fig. 1 this interference is minimized; if the corners a-re not rounded the bending of the. panels can be continued slightly beyond the 180 value until the seat clears p es 2. 1. or It will be seen from the foregoing that my improved device may. be constructed of light, strong; material, for example plywood, may be folded into small compass, e, g., approximately 5 x 10 x 2f for the embodiment of Fig. 1 (somewhat largersize for the embodiment of Fig. '7), and in such knocked down form may be readily carried in a brief case, under arm bag or a special carrying bag with shoulder strap if this is desired, where it may be available for use at excusions, games, crowded trains ,etc., and the fatigue due to standing thereby avoided. H

While I haveillustrated and described in detail preferred forms of my invention, it is to g be understoodthat changesmay be made therein and the invention embodied in other struc- 4 tures. I do not, therefore, desire to limit myself to the specific constructions illustrated, but intend to cover my invention broadly in whatever form its principle may be embodied.

I claim:

1. In a, portable folding stool, a seat, a support therefor comprising a fiat generally rectangular member hingedly foldable along a vertical axis to form in supporting position two sides of a V- shaped trough,- the seat said position resting upon the top edges oftlie sides, said member being also hingedly foldable, when the dihedral angle between said sides is along a horizontal axis to form generally rectangular panels, means for attaching said seat to said support when said member is in supporting position, including means'for universally hinging said seat to said support, said seat being of shape and size so as to be substantially contained within the periphery of at least the largest of said panels whereby in knocked down position said I seat formszvvith said panels aseries of-flatwise superimposed leaves constituting. a compact, easily pa'ckageable bundle substantially free from p'rotruding :parts, said -universally 'hinging means permitting the parts so hinged to :as'sumeeith'er erect or knocked down position without detachment from one'another.

'2. The'st'ool according to-claim 1 in'whichsaid panels are of substantially equal size.

.3. ma portable-folding'stool, a"s"eat,ia'*support therefor comprising a flat 1 generally rectangular member "hingedly 'foldable along a vertical axis to form in supporting position two sides of a 'V- shaped trough, the seat in said positlonre's'ting upon itheitop edges of 'the :sides, saidmember being also hingedly Ifoldable, when the "dihedral angle betweenisaid sides 1809, along a horizontal :aXis to form generally rectangular panels, means for attaching said seat to said support when said member is in supporting position,-said seat being'attac'hed to saidsupport by'a' universally hinging device which comprises a shank constituting the pin of a hinge-between vertical folds of said member and a securing device attached "to said 'seatand mo'v'ably' engaging said shank, said seat and said ipanels when collapsed constituting l a compact, easily xpa'ckage'able bundle. c

CLIFFORD D; KEELY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in-the 

